Le Gray Hotel :

Nothing symbolizes the return of this former “Pearl of the Middle East” quite like downtown’s Le Gray. While this is a contemporary, coolly-elegant hotel, the warmth of its luxury hotelier owner, Gordon Campbell Gray, is suffused throughout. Gray’s signature imprint is ever-present in the five-star property, which includes a 500-piece modern art collection. The five-floor property, clad in traditional Lebanese limestone, contains 87 rooms and suites.

The compact reception area, just off famed Martyrs’ Square, eschews any grand pretenses in favor of a Zen-inspired sitting room (albeit with superb modern art).  Upper walls are covered with etched steel light boxes.  Back-lit, the white panels are pierced with fresh cut flowers - scattering a constellation of light skyward. The effect lifts the smallish room.  One almost wishes it had no roof.

What’s more fittingly grand than the unassuming lobby is Le Gray’s central open column of space and light, around which each of the five floors wrap. You encounter this architectural wonder after exiting room elevators.  Appropriately built with cedar wood, the beehive-like, hollow column is largely framed with windows. A central, impossibly lengthy chandelier seeming built from thin light drops straight through the structure.  It’s a refreshing view after exiting the deceptively small reception area.

Zen-Like Interiors that Retain Warmth
Le Gray’s interior designer Mary Fox Linton seems to have been reaching for the ineffable as well when creating interiors.  Even the reception desks are slightly raised and bottom-lit, making them appear to hover on clouds.  Welcome to Paradiso.

Linton also designed London’s One Aldwych, a former gem in Gray’s hotel collection, which now includes the Carlisle Bay in Antigua (the hotelier is reportedly also developing property in the Galapagos).  Le Gray is worthy of this oft termed “Grande Dame of Groovy” – or perhaps Mary Fox Linton has made  the property worthy. Even pronouncing the name Mary Fox Linton seems to confer immediate design sensibilities.

Gordon Campbell Gray worked closely with Linton, and has always been known for exacting detail in his properties, helping him to earn distinction as one of the “Top 10 Hoteliers in Britain” – so named by The Independent.  A descendent of tobacco barons, the Scottish-born Gray spent several years overseas working for Save the Children Fund.

Bedrooms and suites in le Gray replicate the Zen-like efficienct calm of the reception area. In-room facilities include an espresso machine, iPhone docking station, full HD LCD screen TV and bathroom TV.  No door hangers at this hotel. Simple recessed “privacy” and “clean room” buttons to the right of the entrance forecast your desire.  And desires at a property such as this are promptly met. I met a dismayed guest in the elevator, vexed he had no steamed milk for coffee brewed by using his room’s espresso machine. “I called down for some,” he said in a flustered tone that had me guessing that it never arrived.  “It was at my door in three minutes,” he added, as if the world had finally heard his long voiced primal call for help. “I don’t think you can even steam milk in three minutes.”  Complimentary laptops are also available –I can only surmise that they arrive even more quickly.

Room layouts include 131 square foot deluxe models, 164 square foot premium rooms, and 196 square foot executive suites with sitting areas and a dining table.  One and two bedroom corner and presidential suites are also available.  Opening rates are from $345 per night.

Beirut’s Grandeur Within Walking Distance
My suite included a stellar view of the newly built Mohammad Al-Amin mosque. Topped by Robin's egg blue, Byzantine domes and squared by four minarets that soar 237 feet, the style is reminiscent of Mecca’s Grand Mosque. Brightly lit at night, the mosque lent a storybook view just outside my living room terrace.  I was tempted to stay put, entranced by a tale from 1,001 nights. But the beauty of Le Gray is also found in its central location. This is a walkable hotel.  Just around the corner is Nejmeh square framed by the Lebanese Parliament, two cathedrals, a museum, cafes and anchored by a 1930s Art Deco clock tower.   

All traces, in fact, of the downtown area’s destructive past have been erased.  More than 400 war-torn buildings have been restored to their original Ottoman glory, and 900 others have been torn down and rebuilt.  Saifi Village, or Le Quartier des Arts, is also a few blocks away.  The area is packed with art galleries, design studios, boutiques and antique stores. Rue Gouraud, with a straight-line view of the Mohammad Al-Amin mosque, is about the trendiest street in Beirut (I prefered it to Rue Hamra).  Nice that it’s walkable to Le Gray as well – given ....